


And Make the Broken Ones Fit Together Again

by Dillbugg



Series: Pieces in a Puzzle Box (Dream SMP Recovery AU) [3]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Anyways, Dadza pog, Dave | Technoblade and Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit are Siblings, Eating Disorders, Eret and Tommy bonding pog, Gen, Genderfluid Character, Hospital Visit, Injury Recovery, Memory Loss, Phil is a single dad of three adopted children and trying his best, Schlatt has self destructive tendencies, Self-Destruction, Some content alluding to an eating disorder, Switching pronouns for Eret, The drowned world, This somehow became Tommy-centric and I’m a little mad about it, Tommy-centric, Wil and Schlatt both have trauma over the water is rising world, and he might make mistakes, but its okay, but the focus will go back to Tubbo I promise, it is not that heavy, its eret, just a throwaway line, thats an official tag!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:16:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27651910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dillbugg/pseuds/Dillbugg
Summary: Tubbo wears Tommy’s coat. Tommy has to go see his dad again. Eret continues to be the pinnacle of wisdom.Or;“I set this up, by the way,” Tommy starts, uncharacteristically soft spoken. It’s a foreign sound coming from him, “The beehives.”“I love bees,” Tubbo says, fondly watching the bee crawl on its perch from the back of his hand, leaving dusty pollen in its wake.“Yeah,” Tommy says, then even quieter, “It’s for you,”Tubbo blinks. Then blinks again. His eyes sting and he’s not all that sure why. There’s a hand embroidered patch of the L’Manberg flag sewed on Tommy’s jacket, directly over his heart. Why is the world so blurred and filled with static? Can he not just rest?
Relationships: Eret & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Jschlatt & Wilbur Soot, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Series: Pieces in a Puzzle Box (Dream SMP Recovery AU) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018948
Comments: 4
Kudos: 247





	And Make the Broken Ones Fit Together Again

Tommy sits cross legged next to him and Tubbo frowns for a moment, before refocusing on the bee gently butting into his hands, folded in his lap. He carefully stretches his hand out, the range of it cut short by the clinking of the chains connecting his wrists.

“You’re shivering,” Tommy observes, it doesn’t help, it only makes him more aware of how cold he is.

By all means, he really should not be cold. It’s a beautiful sunny day, and he’s wearing his usual long sleeved shirt. But, the body needs food to function, and he’s had barely any over the last two weeks.

Tubbo shrugs, playing the indifference card. Sometimes, you must make sacrifices to reap the reward in the end. Tommy stands up, shrugs his jacket off and then settles down, much closer to Tubbo. There’s a moment of hesitation, a tiny tick that shows just how much his familiarity with Tubbo has deteriorated. Then, he’s swinging the denim jacket over Tubbo’s shoulders as if there was no pause in the first place.

Tommy pushes the first button through the hole so it doesn’t slip off of his shoulders. Tubbo blinks, he feels sluggish, like he’s half asleep, “Thanks,” he offers monotonously.

He’s not sure if he means it yet.

But, for the first time in the last month he feels seen in such a way that relieves him. Makes him feel like it really will get better.

“I set this up, by the way,” Tommy starts, uncharacteristically soft spoken. It’s a foreign sound coming from him, “The beehives.”

“I love bees,” Tubbo says, fondly watching the bee crawl on its perch from the back of his hand, leaving dusty pollen in its wake.

“Yeah,” Tommy says, then even quieter, “It’s for you,”

Tubbo blinks. Then blinks again. His eyes sting and he’s not all that sure why. There’s a hand embroidered patch of the L’Manberg flag sewed on Tommy’s jacket, directly over his heart. Why is the world so blurred and filled with static? Can he not just rest?

***

“Schlatt, you gotta get in the boat man,” Wilbur says, pleads.

Schlatt blinks his yellowed eyes at the sun rising over the water.

It’s the end of the world, and the water is rising. His mouth tastes of sea salt and brine, and his eyes sting.

“No,” Schlatt says, he can’t tear his eyes away from the rising sun. It’s too late for him, he’s already become the drowned man.

The drowned man in the drowned world.

Wilbur throws down his oar in a fit of rage, “Fine!” He shouts, voice tearing into a harsh register, “Suit yourself! Fucking drown out here, see if I care!”

“Goodbye, Wilbur,” Schlatt says, not giving him any further acknowledgement.

The sound of the boat scraping the pebbled shore breaks his reverie, and he watches Wilbur push the boat out into the water until he is knee deep in the water. He jumps in, the boat swaying under his weight and Schlatt’s heartbeat picks up.

Wilbur is grimacing and he looks at Schlatt, one last time before turning towards the rising sun, picking up his oars and beginning his journey.

“Bye Jebediah,” He hears Wilbur murmur over the water.

Schlatt frowns. He hasn’t heard that one in a while.

He stands there, watching Wilbur and his boat getting smaller and smaller on the horizon. He ignores everything, the scratch in his throat as he grows thirstier and thirstier, the tightness in his stomach when he becomes hungry. He stands in one place and by midday, like clockwork, the water has risen again. It laps at his ankles, soaking his pant legs.

“He left me,” Schlatt says to the empty world, “Left me to die. Just like that.”

***

“Wilbur’s gone.” Is the first thing Tommy says when he sweeps into the meeting room.

Eret stands the head of the table, with the presence of a goddess, and fixes him with a surprised look.

“What do you mean he’s gone?” Fundy asks, eyes wide.

“He’s gone! His hospital room ‘s empty and there’s a letter! From Technoblade!” Tommy screams at the room full of very important people.

“Tommy,” Eret says, trying to bring the tension down.

It only serves to piss Tommy off more and he slams down a heavy book down on the circular table with the map of the SMP’s land.

“Dearest baby brother,” Tommy reads mockingly, “I got a message from Wilbur telling me to come pick him up, so I did a little prison-breaking. See you at Christmas. Love, Techie.”

Silence falls over the table. Eret sighs heavily and slumps into their chair, “Tommy, where did Techno take him then?”

Tommy breathes heavily, tugs on his denim jacket, continues to pace across the length of the room. Why are his brothers so shit at being good people?

“Wilbur Soot has yet to be put on trial for his case of Domestic Terrorism,” A member of Eret’s court speaks up. Tommy flashes a glare at her but realizes very quickly that she’s painfully right.

This is bad. Very, very bad. It reflects incredibly poorly on him, too. As the new president of L’Manberg and the brother of two enemies of the state.

Tommy steps up to the table and brushes his hand over the heavy leather bound book he slammed on the table earlier in his fit of anger. He grimaces but stands up tall, “I also found this.”

Focus trickles back to him and he continues, feeling a little out of place with so many adults in the room who have been in positions of power much longer. Insecurities sprouting like stubborn weeds through cracks in concrete. He pushes on.

“Dearest Wilbur,

"Sorry about pushing you into the lava that one time, I thought it would be funnier than it turned out. Do you remember the witch we met in the drowned world?

"I found her again, and she gave me a copy of her specialty. I've been giving it to Tubbo for a few months now, and it's a shot in the dark what the kid will be able to remember after that.

"He's not the brightest bulb in the bunch, but he's too smart for his own good. Knows exactly how to play both sides, knows enough to play both of us.

"I've seen him lie to you with my own two eyes. Nice cave, by the way, the hanging lanterns are a nice touch.

"See you soon,

"J. Schlatt,"

The room is quiet, Tommy grimaces at the implications. Schlatt followed him, followed Tubbo to Pogtopia and remained undetected the entire time for this to be the first he's ever heard of it.

"Okay, so this gives us something to investigate regarding Tubbo's case. Some kind of magic…" Eret frowns softly, "Tommy, you're not going to like it."

"We're not bringing Phil into this," Tommy says sternly before she can even bring it up.

"He might be the only person who can help them," Eret mentions, “And Wilbur and Techno might have sought shelter with him.”

The audience gets stuffy, tension high and gazes steely. If Tommy defends this, if he really fights for this one, it's going to be weeks of procedures halted as they struggle through coming to an agreement. It'll mean the next disagreement will take even longer to resolve.

Tommy heaves a sigh, "I'll think about it," Except he already knows she's won.

Guess he'll have to see his dad again.

***

“Tommy, listen to me,” Phil’s voice is stern, with a hint of a shaking anger Tommy hasn’t heard before, “Listen. I love you very much.”

Tommy rolls his eyes and Phil pauses, collects himself.

“I love you very much. So much, Tommy. But you are a danger to yourself, you are a danger to your brothers and a danger to me. By refusing to answer to my authority as your father-“

“I’m not your son,” Tommy growls, kicks a smattering of ash into the air, watches it dissipate.

“As your caretaker, then. By refusing to respect my authority, you are surrendering yourself to the care of the state. None of us want that, kid.” Phil says, a broken man, standing in the wreckage of a half burnt living room.

“You wouldn’t though,” Tommy gloats, backed by the confidence of all nine years of his life, “You hate the king, and my mum left you with direct instructions to keep me as far away from the king as possible.”

“Tommy. You could have burnt the house down, and it would be different if this were a complete and utter accident, but you’ve nearly done the same thing at least a dozen times now!” Phil exclaims, he’s bordering on hysterical, and in the corner Tommy’s older brothers, the pacifist Wilbur and the aggressive Techno have stopped their squabbling for a shocking hour and a half to watch the show, and to shoot death glares at Tommy.

“Enjoying the show?” Tommy jabs at them, from where they sit on the stairs, pretending they aren’t watching Tommy and Phil scream at each other.

“Leave them out of it, Tommy,” Phil says, and only because Phil said it, Tommy gears up to antagonize them more.

“Tommy,” Phil sighs and turns away for a moment to gather his strength. He turns back as Tommy is finishing his award winning antagonistic behavior and he looks resolute, face all cold and stony, he says, “We’re checking you back into the hospital, and this time, you are staying there until you decide that you can behave appropriately enough to live under my roof, with your family.”

Tommy scoffs out a laugh. They’ve done this dance half a dozen times before, he wonders how long Phil will last this time. He’s got it down to a science, the places he can put pressure on that will make Phil bend.

He’d bet money on everything going back to normal within two days.

***

“You don’t have to go,” Eret says at the beginning of the journey, to which Tommy rolls his eyes.

“We both know I do. It’s not really state business anymore, those fuckers made it personal. Plus, Philza would never let you into his realm.” Tommy grumbles and Eret frowns, like they’re sad that he’s wrong. And for a moment, Tommy remembers that Eret is a person too, then he pushes it down because he can't handle that right now.

Can’t handle the implication that Eret made that decision during the war and still cared for their brothers, can't handle the fact that Tommy himself was not the only person hurt by the betrayal.

He feels like he should say something, declare that he’s forgiven Eret and they’re bestest friends now, but he finds he just doesn’t have it in him. Doesn’t know if he even has forgiven them, which means he definitely hasn’t.

Instead, he says, “Wish we could’ve brought Tubbo with us,”

“Yeah,” Eret says, their horse snorts and tosses her head, they gently pat her neck, “Me too.”

“I miss him,” Tommy says and he doesn’t mean it in the way that he left him physically behind.

“Me too,” Eret agrees, and they mean the old Tubbo, too.

***

Tommy has been in the hospital for a record breaking six weeks. He did not realize exactly how serious Phil had been after he nearly burnt the house down.

“When do you think your family will come back for you?” The kid he shares a room with asks.

Tommy’s already forgotten his name, he thinks it was Toby or Tony or something. He talks so much, more than Tommy, because he is still fuming mad, and annoyingly enough, actually reflecting on his actions.

“I don’t know,” Tommy grumbles, “They’d better be back soon, or I’ll start stabbing shit.”

The other boy stares at him with wide blue eyes, “Umm,”

Tommy rolls his eyes, but he does feel bad. It’s becoming a joke more and more often but even just four weeks ago he would have been dead serious.

“Ay, Toby,”

“Tubbo,” He corrects and Tommy remembers him saying that now.

Tommy rolls his eyes again anyways, “Tubbo, whatever. Tell me about the bees you keep back home.”

Tubbo’s face lights up and he launches into a rant about his family’s farm and his aunts who own the place.

Phil watches quietly from outside the boys’ room through the blinds of the window. It’s like the world itself is changing around them. Phil has never, _never_ seen Tommy connect so genuinely with someone else.

“Holy shit,” He breathes, this is progress, this is the most progress Phil has seen from Tommy in the three years he’s been fostering the kid, “Holy shit,”

***

“Hey dad,” Tommy says to a flabbergasted Philza.

He stands on his porch looking very lost, and all the same as the last he saw him. Same green robe and dark grey coat and green and white bucket hat.

“Tommy?” Phil says, sounding a little too defensive for Tommy’s liking.

“May we come in?” Tommy forces himself to be polite.

Eret lingers at the bottom of the stairs, shifting from foot to foot. She reaches up and readjusts her glasses, then coughs quietly.

Phil raises his eyebrow, “Why do you need to come in?”

Tommy smiles with a hint of malice. Bingo. His brothers are absolutely here.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Any feedback is welcome and super appreciated!
> 
> See you soon for part 4 ;)


End file.
